Answers
App market questions, answered with data
Every answer is built on our own data, not on recycled 2019 blog posts: 1.1M+ iOS apps tracked daily, and 2.5M+ Google Play apps for the Android answers. Company figures we quote are labeled as reported. Short answers, real distributions, honest error bars.
App revenue & money
How much does an app make?
Median revenue across 761,898 ranked iOS apps — and why the average lies.
Read the numbers →How much does it cost to make an app?
Build-cost benchmarks vs what apps actually earn back — payback math included.
Read the numbers →How much do apps make from ads?
eCPM benchmarks, per-ad math, and the store-side odds for ad-funded apps.
Read the numbers →Average app revenue by category
Every App Store category ranked by median monthly revenue.
Read the numbers →How many apps make money?
The real odds an app earns anything at all, from 746,534 apps.
Read the numbers →Most profitable app categories (2026)
Categories ranked by odds of success, not headline totals.
Read the numbers →How much do indie iOS developers make?
Earnings distribution across 282,907 developer accounts.
Read the numbers →Free vs paid vs subscription
Which pricing model actually wins, by category and revenue.
Read the numbers →How many downloads is good?
Download benchmarks by percentile — what 'good' means in numbers.
Read the numbers →Famous app revenue
How much does Duolingo make?
$748M reported for 2024 — and the #1 education app in our App Store money chart.
Read the numbers →How much does Headspace make?
A ~$300M business whose App Store consumer-spend signal is startlingly small.
Read the numbers →How much does Calm make?
Our estimate puts Calm at #6 in Health & Fitness — far ahead of Headspace in-store.
Read the numbers →How much does Strava make?
Reportedly ~$275M a year — and just outside the App Store fitness top 10.
Read the numbers →How much does MyFitnessPal make?
The veteran calorie counter — now out-grossed 7× in-store by an AI newcomer.
Read the numbers →How much does Noom make?
From a claimed $1B year to today's App Store reality, in labeled estimates.
Read the numbers →How much does Tinder make?
About $1.9B a year reported — and Hinge is now within 0.4% in App Store spend.
Read the numbers →How much does Candy Crush make?
A $20B lifetime franchise — daily, yearly and per-storefront numbers.
Read the numbers →How much does Telegram make?
A billion users, $1B+ reported revenue — and a tiny App Store footprint.
Read the numbers →How much does WhatsApp make?
WhatsApp sells nothing in the App Store — here's how the money actually flows.
Read the numbers →How much does Snapchat make?
$5.4B in reported ad revenue vs what Snapchat+ grosses in the store.
Read the numbers →How much does Cash App make?
#1 Finance app in our money chart, with $5.2B in reported gross profit.
Read the numbers →Niche revenue deep-dives
How much do meditation apps make?
Revenue distribution across 647 meditation apps.
Read the numbers →How much do journaling apps make?
1,502 journaling apps, from zero to the top earner.
Read the numbers →How much do VPN apps make?
1,052 VPN apps — a brutal winner-take-most market.
Read the numbers →How much do weather apps make?
3,090 weather apps and the subscription shift.
Read the numbers →How much do calculator apps make?
3,807 calculator apps — utility niches by the numbers.
Read the numbers →Market size & App Store stats
How many apps are in the App Store?
The 2026 count — tracked daily, not quoted from 2019.
Read the numbers →How many apps launch every day?
Daily iOS release volume and what you're really competing with.
Read the numbers →How many new apps get users?
Cohort data: what happens to apps in their first months.
Read the numbers →What is the average app size?
Median download is ~50 MB — the spread will surprise you.
Read the numbers →What is a good app rating?
4.5 stars is merely average. The real bar, from 744,874 apps.
Read the numbers →What % of apps get updated?
Abandonment rates from 1,037,841 apps — most of the store is dead.
Read the numbers →App localization statistics
How many languages iOS apps actually support.
Read the numbers →Google Play (Android)
Top-grossing Android apps
Google Play's own US top-grossing chart, read every day: the top 20 apps and games in Google's order, and the #1 of every category chart.
See today's chart →How many apps are on Google Play?
Of 2,607,536 Google Play apps GetAppNiche read (US store, Sep 29, 2026), at least 312,078 are games and 906,287 distinct developer names publish them; Google publishes no official total.
Read the numbers →How many apps are released on Google Play every day?
Of 2,607,536 Google Play apps GetAppNiche read (US store, Sep 29, 2026), 417,606 were released Jan–Jun 2026 and are still listed: 2,307 a day.
Read the numbers →Google Play categories: apps and competition
Of 2,607,536 Google Play apps GetAppNiche read (US store, Sep 29, 2026), Education is the largest category and Events the most crowded.
Read the numbers →Free vs paid Android apps
Of 2,607,536 Google Play apps GetAppNiche read (US store, Sep 29, 2026), none of the 1,424 with 100M+ installs is paid; the typical paid app costs $1.99.
Read the numbers →How many downloads does an Android app get?
Of 2,607,536 Google Play apps GetAppNiche read (US store, Sep 29, 2026), the median shows 100+ installs; an app showing 10K+ is in the top 19.53%.
Read the numbers →What is a good Google Play rating?
Of 258,381 Google Play apps with 100+ ratings GetAppNiche read (US store, Sep 29, 2026), the median is 4.25; 4.58 (shown as 4.6) starts the top quarter.
Read the numbers → GuideGoogle Play ASO in 2026: what top Android apps actually do
Of the 64,147 Google Play apps with 1M+ installs GetAppNiche read (US store, Sep 29, 2026), the median title has 26 of the 30 characters Google allows; plus Google's own rules for each listing field.
Read the guide →ASO & method
How long does ASO take?
Honest timelines before keywords move — with data, not vibes.
Read the numbers →How to estimate app downloads
The estimation method itself, including its error bars.
Read the numbers →App Store fees explained
30%, 15% and 0% — which commission you'll really pay.
Read the numbers →Tool comparisons
Sensor Tower vs Appfigures vs GetAppNiche
Three tools, three different jobs — which fits yours.
Read the numbers →AppTweak vs MobileAction vs GetAppNiche
ASO suites compared on data depth and price.
Read the numbers →Appfigures vs AppTweak
Reporting tool or ASO suite? The 2026 breakdown.
Read the numbers →Did Sensor Tower acquire data.ai?
The 2024 acquisition and what it means for pricing.
Read the numbers →Is Starter Story worth it?
Pricing and an honest look at what you get.
Read the numbers →Want the raw data behind these answers? Browse the top grossing iOS apps ranked by revenue free, see Google Play's top-grossing Android apps every day and the Android apps gaining Google Play ratings fastest every Monday, or filter all 3.6M+ apps across the App Store and Google Play yourself in GetAppNiche Pro.